[SUMMARY: This final installment of the Origin of Man-Shrimp features a special cameo by You-Know-Who! as the crew of the Daedalus engage in desperate struggle with a fleet of Barnacle-Bots!]

Well... except you DON'T know who that is, Ha ha!
Sorry to be so mysterious with the story. Like I said, it's a vast imaginary world that's been floating around in my brain for years. When I started this comic, I made the---perhaps wrong---decision to be more subtle than explicit, to reveal gradually rather than shove lots of explanation at the reader.

Anyway... who is that... thing?
That, my friends, is GorillaBear.
GB, as you will sometimes hear him called.
or The Big Guy.
More specifically, at this point, he is AquaGorillaBear! "1/2 bear, 1/2 gorilla, 1/2 robot, 1/2 aquatic sea creature!" as stated in an old advertisement I once made.

GorillaBear is considered the FIRST of the Magical Hybrids, though he is a combination of two animals, not of a human and an animal. However, it was after his creation that Man-Animals began appearing regularly, several every year, and they would often appear in his vicinity. Additionally, he shared some special empathy with them and was usually able to assist with their transition.
That's essentially what happened with Man-Shrimp as well.
Also, GB's words are correct.
He and Man-Shrimp do become best friends---Man-Shrimp served as GorillaBear's sidekick (and Healer) for many many years.